New Challenge Aims to Prove How the BOUNCER Application Whitelisting Solution Stops the Most Infamous and Dangerous Malware Attacks

Austin, Texas – October 21, 2010 – CoreTraceR, the leading provider of
application whitelisting solutions, today announced the “BOUNCER Beatdown”
Challenge.” The Challenge invites IT and security professionals to challenge
CoreTrace’s award-winning application whitelisting product, BOUNCER, to
publicly stop their recommended malware attack.

On October 13, 2010, CoreTrace announced the general availability of
BOUNCERT 6.0. In addition to simplified management, a highly scalable
virtualized architecture, and valuable application intelligence information,
BOUNCER 6.0 offers sophisticated malware protection beyond simply stopping
payloads that are not on the whitelist. BOUNCER 6.0 includes a hardened,
self-defending endpoint agent, and advanced security capabilities such as
memory protection.

“Every day, CoreTrace is asked if BOUNCER can stop the latest threat du
jour, such as Stuxnet, that is bypassing traditional blacklisting-based
antivirus,” said Toney Jennings, president and CEO of CoreTrace. “Rather
than simply answering the question, we wanted to publicly show that BOUNCER
effectively stops today’s most sophisticated malware attacks. We are so
confident in the BOUNCER technology, that we are asking security
professionals to recommend the attacks that they would like to see BOUNCER
beat down and then we will offer proof of how BOUNCER combated it.”

With the “BOUNCER Beatdown” Challenge, security professionals can easily ask
CoreTrace to publicly prove BOUNCER’s effectiveness by easily recommending a
threat via a simple form found at www.coretrace.com. For the most requested,
popular or nefarious threats, CoreTrace will record the live attack and then
show how BOUNCER provides protection. The results will be shown in
CoreTrace’s blog, YouTube channel, Facebook page, LinkedIn groups and
highlighted quarterly in a CoreTrace-issued press release.

Based on earlier requests, CoreTrace already has two video examples of
BOUNCER stopping well-publicized attacks:
. On June 26th, 2010, BOUNCER beat down the now-infamous Stuxnet.
This video has over 5,000 views.
. On August 26th, 2010, BOUNCER beat down DLL Hijacking attempts. This
video has over 700 views.

Helpful Links
. “BOUNCER Beatdown” Challenge
. BOUNCER 6.0
. BOUNCER 6.0 Review Video
. CoreTrace YouTube Channel
. CoreTrace on Twitter

About CoreTrace

CoreTraceR is the leading provider of application whitelisting-based
solutions. The company’s award-winning and patented BOUNCER solution is at
the forefront of the movement to improve security and endpoint performance
by combining application whitelisting for real-time malware prevention and
cloud-based blacklists for detection and reporting. Unlike other application
whitelisting solutions that are simply lockdown technologies, BOUNCER’s
“Trusted Change” capability enables IT professionals to predefine multiple
sources from which users can safely install applications and have them
automatically added to the whitelist-all with minimal IT involvement. The
result: full prevention of unauthorized applications, improved overall
security, and lower total cost of ownership. CoreTrace’s customers include
organizations in a wide variety of industries, such as energy, oil and gas,
retail, financial services, telecommunications, as well as government
agencies.

CUPERTINO, Calif., Sept. 08, 2010 /PRNewswire/ – To celebrate its launch of the 2011 Trend Micro™ Titanium™, Trend Micro, the global leader of Internet security, is offering consumers a chance to win one of three new premium Dell PC systems. Those wishing to enter can register beginning today till October 08, 2010.

The prizes include:

• An ultimate gaming machine, the Dell Alienware M11x;
• An ideal family computer, the Dell Inspiron 14R; and
• A full-featured home office work machine, the Dell Vostro 3400.

Each of these prizes will be loaded with the Trend Micro Titanium software. A revolutionary new approach to computer system security, Trend Micro Titanium provides state-of-the-art protection for consumers’ data, delivered with optimal performance and ease-of-use and employs a cloud-client strategy that combines cloud-based web, email, and file reputation services with Smart Scanning technology for real-time, up-to-date protection against today’s sophisticated threats. Titanium Security stops viruses, spyware, and phishing attacks before they reach you, your family or home office PC.

In addition, Trend Micro is giving away 1,000 copies of its premiere 2011 Titanium Maximum Security software (a $59 retail value). Winners will be drawn at random.

Those wishing to enter can register at www.TrendMicro.com/Free for a chance to win one of the prizes described above. Registration ends on October 08, 2010.

“With the 2011 Trend Micro™ Titanium™ Maximum Security software we are giving our customers the Internet security, confidence and convenience they deserve plus the chance to win one of three new Dell computers,” said Tobias Lee, vice president of consumer and small business marketing, Trend Micro. “We are also giving away 1,000 copies of our 2011 Trend Micro Titanium Maximum Security software. Everyone who signs up is eligible to receive our revolutionary software and premium customer support bundle, an online equivalent of a day at the spa for their PC.”

Product Availability, Prices and Requirements

Trend Micro Titanium is a family of products offering protection that is not only strong, fast and easy-to-use, but also uses the power of cloud computing to block threats before they reach your computer.

The 2011 Trend Micro Titanium products are available from September 08, 2010 for purchase in the U.S. through retailers and the Trend Micro online store, through retail channel partners in select countries worldwide, and at various retail locations online.

• Trend Micro™ Titanium™ Antivirus+ ($39.95 for 1 PC, $59.95 for 3 PCs) –Includes antivirus, antispyware and Web threat protection, stopping malicious downloads and finding and blocking malicious links in emails or IMs.
• Trend Micro™ Titanium™ Internet Security ($49.95 for 1 PC, $69.95 for 3 PCs) – Includes everything in Antivirus + plus, spam blocking, customizable parental controls, data theft prevention, and helps prevent unauthorized changes to applications.
• Trend Micro™ Titanium™ Maximum Security ($59.95 for 1 PC, $79.95 for 3 PCs) – Includes everything in Internet Security plus, 10 GB secure online backup with sync and sharing features, system optimization, Secure Erase, Wi-Fi protection and Remote File Lock to remotely secure confidential files in case your PC is stolen.

The 2011 Trend Micro Titanium products support Microsoft Windows® 7 Family, Service Pack 1 or higher; Windows Vista, Service Pack 1 or higher; and Windows® XP Family (32 bit or higher), Service Pack 3 or higher. For Windows 7 and Vista 1GB memory is recommended; for Windows XP 512MB is recommended; and 500 MB disk space for all three editions.

Contest is for North America Users Only.

About Trend Micro

Founded in 1988, Trend Micro Incorporated, a global leader in Internet content security has over 20 years of experience creating a safer world for consumers and businesses to exchange digital information. Based in Tokyo and employing more than 4,400 people in 23 countries, Trend Micro is both a pioneer and industry vanguard. The company is advancing integrated threat management technology to protect operational continuity, personal information, and property from malware, spam, data leaks and the newest Web threats.

Visit TrendWatch to learn more about the latest threats.

Trend Micro’s flexible solutions are supported 24/7 by threat intelligence and analysis experts around the globe.

Many of these solutions are powered by the Trend Micro™ Smart Protection Network™ infrastructure, an Internet cloud-based innovation that combines sophisticated reputation technology, feedback loops, and the expertise of TrendLabs℠ researchers to deliver real-time protection against rapidly emerging threats. Trend Micro’s trusted security solutions include products ranging from single PC consumer solutions to enterprise-level security and threat management. Trend Micro’s products are sold through business partners worldwide. Please visit Trend Micro.com to learn more.

CUPERTINO, Calif., Sept. 08, 2010 /PRNewswire/ – Trend Micro Incorporated, a global leader in the fight against cybercrime, today released new security software that provides state-of-the-art protection for consumers’ data, delivered with optimal performance and ease-of-use. Trend Micro’s Titanium Security 2011 stops viruses, spyware, and phishing attacks before they reach you, your family or home office PC.

Titanium 2011 utilizes a revolutionary cloud-client strategy that combines cloud-based web, email, and file reputation services with Trend Micro’s Smart Scanning technology for real-time, up-to-date protection against today’s sophisticated threats. The new three-product family includes Titanium™ Antivirus+, Titanium™ Internet Security, and Titanium™ Maximum Security. Each provides customers with better performing, easiest-to-use security software that ensures ultimate protection.

Smarter Protection

Because a portion of the application resides on Trend Micro’s own servers, Titanium 2011 is able to stop threats before they can reach a protected PC. This partially cloud-based architecture also lightens the protected computer’s processing, memory, and storage load, resulting in significant performance gains. In real world test scenarios, early independent testing has already determined that Titanium is a leader in protection and performance and is designed to stop Internet malware proactively.

“Titanium 2011 is an all-around win for consumers,” said Carol Carpenter, executive general manager for the Consumer and Small Business units at Trend Micro. “Our new technology takes family and PC protection to entirely new heights and is the most effective way to challenge the explosion of real world online threats that we expect will continue indefinitely. It’s a major upgrade for our customers, for Trend Micro and for the industry.”

Titanium uses Trend Micro’s Smart Scan engine to deliver immediate protection directly from the Internet cloud. By accessing Trend Micro’s continually updated reputation databases over the Internet, response to threats is significantly faster than with conventional security software. Such applications require large periodic downloads of malware signatures that provide less effective protection than Titanium 2011’s access to live reputation data.

The Smart Scan engine also works with local indexes and caches, as well as heuristics and behavior monitoring technologies, all of which reside on the customer’s PC, so the user’s data is still protected when the PC is offline. This powerful combination fights threats both in the cloud and on the local machine.

Trend Micro Titanium 2011 also takes advantage of the Trend Micro™ Smart Protection Network™ infrastructure that operates discreetly in the background, analyzing files and Internet activities for threats. There is no need for users to worry about keeping a large database of protection signatures continually updated on the local PC hard drive, since the reputation services used by Titanium Security 2011 are located in the cloud. This is a completely new way to protect users’ data.

Previous security applications from Trend Micro and its competitors store threat information on the protected computer itself. Besides requiring the machine to actually “touch” an infected site in order to evaluate the threat, it also required frequent updates of the threat database.
A recently conducted set of tests by NSS Labs demonstrates the superior protection of Titanium™. In the tests, Titanium™ is rated #1 in catching malware before it executes on a user’s computer and #1 in stopping zero hour malware. The complete findings will be available in an upcoming report from NSS Labs (http://www.nsslabs.com).

Better Performance

In designing Titanium 2011, Trend Micro engineers focused not only on providing better protection, but also on increased performance, resulting in a dramatically thinner application that is not only smaller in size but also lighter in CPU and memory usage.

“The buyers of security software are torn between the need to be protected and the need to maintain adequate performance,” said Rob Enderle Principal Analyst for the Enderle Group. “These conflicting needs often have them at war with their security solution and under protected. Titanium 2011 from Trend Micro is the first product to deeply embrace both needs to provide a security solution that actually may increase performance removing this painful conflict,” Rob Enderle, Principal Analyst, Enderle Group.

Titanium 2011 transforms the customer experience across a number of key benchmarks, including faster scan times, as well as lower memory and CPU usage, balancing thoroughness with efficiency. Faster boot time, quicker file copying, a smaller installer size, and full scan optimization after initial installment are other enhancements.

“The threat landscape is becoming more sophisticated and prolific – and Titanium meets the challenge,” said Brook Stein, senior product manager for Trend Micro. “Customers have told us they were tired of security software slowing their computers down, but weren’t willing to sacrifice the quality of protection. Our answer is Titanium 2011, the most robust protective system we have ever built and by far the easiest to use.”

Easier To Use

Using a revamped, widget-like interface, Titanium 2011 users can easily navigate and control settings and reports. The software also helps parents keep their children safe from cyber criminals and inappropriate content when they go online and can fight spam and other unsolicited commercial e-mail.

In all three versions, Titanium 2011 is:

• Light on system resources so PCs can run faster
• Designed to be easy-to-use and understand with simple screens and graphical reports
• Uses less than half the disk space and memory of other security products

Configuration is simple, since default settings are optimized for each user right out of the box and can be easily modified. Intuitive security reports with simple screens and graphs provide users with everything they need to understand their computer’s security status. The security dashboard shows protection status at a glance and annoying pop-ups and interruption notifications have been eliminated.

The Titanium Maximum Security version adds easy-to-use options including secure erase, remote file lock in case of computer theft, a system tuner, and 10GB of secure online backup and sync with sharing features.

All versions of Trend Micro Titanium 2011 automatically find and uninstall existing and unnecessary security software to help reduce conflicts that can occur when multiple solutions are in operation.

Availability, Prices and Requirements

Trend Micro Titanium is a family of three products offering protection that is not only effective, fast and easy-to-use, but also brings the power of cloud computing to block threats before they reach your computer.

Trend Micro Titanium 2011 products will be available for purchase starting September 08, 2010 in the U.S. through retailers and the Trend Micro online store, through retail channel partners in select countries worldwide, and at various retail locations online.

• Trend Micro™ Titanium™ Antivirus+ ($39.95 for 1 PC, $59.95 for 3 PCs) – Includes antivirus, antispyware and Web threat protection, stopping malicious downloads and finding and blocking malicious links in emails or IMs.
• Trend Micro™ Titanium™ Internet Security ($49.95 for 1 PC, $69.95 for 3 PCs) – Includes everything in Titanium Antivirus+ plus spam blocking, customizable parental controls, data theft prevention, and helps prevent unauthorized changes to applications.
• Trend Micro™ Titanium™ Maximum Security ($59.95 for 1 PC, $79.95 for 3 PCs) – Includes everything in Titanium Internet Security plus 10 GB secure online backup with sync and sharing features, system optimization, Secure Erase, Wi-Fi protection and Remote File Lock to remotely secure confidential files in case your PC is stolen.

Trend Micro Titanium 2011 products support Microsoft Windows® 7 Family, Service Pack 1 or higher; Windows Vista, Service Pack 1 or higher; and Windows® XP Family (32 bit or higher), Service Pack 3 or higher. For Windows 7 and Vista 1GB memory is recommended; for Windows XP 512MB is recommended; and 500 MB disk space for all three editions.

About Trend Micro

Founded in 1988, Trend Micro Inc., a global leader in Internet content security has over 20 years of experience creating a safer world for consumers and businesses to exchange digital information. Based in Tokyo and employing more than 4,400 people in 23 countries, Trend is both a pioneer and industry vanguard. The company is advancing integrated threat management technology to protect operational continuity, personal information, and property from malware, spam, data leaks and the newest Web threats.

Visit TrendWatch to learn more about the latest threats.

Trend Micro’s flexible solutions are supported 24/7 by threat intelligence and analysis experts around the globe.

Many of these solutions are powered by the Smart Protection Network infrastructure, an Internet cloud-based innovation that combines sophisticated reputation technology, feedback loops, and the expertise of TrendLabs℠ researchers to deliver real-time protection against rapidly emerging threats. Trend Micro’s trusted security solutions include products ranging from single PC consumer solutions to enterprise-level security and threat management. Trend’s products are sold through business partners worldwide. Please visit Trend Micro.com to learn more.

They’ve been building AV products for 22 years and started in the Czech republic. It’s now privately held by the two founders. They believe they are the most senior of the AV companies in terms of how long the founders have been active in the company.

They’re the #1 or #2 AV in the world – 40 languages, 125 million users. The US is the largest market for revenue and the second largest for the free version.

The interesting thing is that they are community based. They distribute the product for free and it is “every bit as good as paid AV”. The community becomes malware collectors and enables them to see viruses around the world instantly. The community also does the marketing by referral – 3 million users per month. The community also provides online support as volunteers (some have posted as many as 20,000 replies). The community volunteers also help develop the localized versions.

A user can install the free product and a few weeks later is prompted to register. It expires after a year and the user is prompted to either renew the free version or buy the not-free version. Premium versions add sandboxing (“for geeks”) and there is an Internet Security Suite that adds a 2 way firewall and anti-spam. The free version is good enough for most. They recommend the premium version with firewall for online transactions.

The free version does a lot, detecting malware, rootkits, and also doing reputation ranking on websites.

There’s also a complete set of corporate products – desktop, servers, email – all with an enterprise class management GUI. In September the new version comes out with a focus on SMB usability. It’s a completely new management environment. The client version will also have full sandboxing capabilities.

The client product gets refreshed every January and they’re adding some cloud features for delivery of signatures and crowd sourcing website reputation. There will be extra protections for online transactions such as complete sandboxing – it in effect turns the sandbox inside out and creates a complete safe environment so it doesn’t matter if the machine is infected.

They support Windows (back to 95) and have Mac and Linux products. They also support most mobile OS’s but not Android right now. RIM and Apple lock down their environments so viruses aren’t a big worry, but Android isn’t locked down at all. Mac and Linux are managed just like Windows.

There’s white listing and black listing in the corporate version for apps and websites. They provide a big list and it can be customized. Also has heuristic analysis and is not just signature based.

The client is fast and lightweight which is good for netbooks and older PC’s (ie, the consumer market).

Summit Partners just invested $100 million in the company as a minority stake. They see the company as profitable and well-managed and will help AVAST move to “the next stage”. They have a lot of operational experience so this is about more than raising money. They see value in the free version and will continue to build the company. This isn’t like a startup that needs funding, they’re just going to the next level.

Vince did say something interesting:
“Macs aren’t any more secure than Windows. They are just fewer users so it is a smaller target. There’s no reason to attack such a small footprint [yet].”

Here’s an interesting connection between 2 of the different worlds that I function within.  Using people’s interest in games as bait for phishing.

StarCraft II accounts being targeted in phishing scam – Video Games Reviews, Cheats | Geek.com.

Is nothing sacred?  Obviously not in the world of spam and phish.

People are always saying that they’re afraid of me and I don’t understand why.  I mean I do understand why someone should be afraid of me but that’s not what they mean.  I think everyone should be afraid of me because I wrestled, judo-ed, and can bench press 300 lbs, but usually someone says they’re afraid of me when I make some insightful comment about security or privacy.

I like to find vulnerabilities.  I admit it.  It’s a puzzle that I love to solve and never bores me.  It’s almost a compulsive need for me to find something and have to rip it apart.

So if I walk into a bank and see that a camera is pointed in a less than optimal direction I will tell someone.  Or if I’m walking down the street and someone’s purse is open and I can see her wallet I’ll tell her.

Frequently I don’t get a thank you – I get a look of terror.

I’m just trying to help.

It’s the little things that will get you.  Identity theft is rampant these days.  Everyone knows someone who has had his identity stolen.  Something 40% of victims don’t know how it happened.  I’m telling you it is the little things.

An empty bottle of pills.  Harmless to most yet a treasure trove of personally identifying information to an identity thief.  Don’t simply throw them in the garbage or recycle them.  Even in the Internet age, dumpster diving is a viable means of identity theft.

Pull the labels off, stick them to a piece of paper, and shred them.

New solution protects against all types of malware and delivers outstanding new features: home network security management, intelligent updates, gaming/multimedia mode, file encryption, and virtual keyboard and browser

Contest offers $200 Amazon.com gift certificate to ten beta testers suggesting best improvements

iiiiiii

ORLANDO, Fla., June 10, 2010 – Panda Security, The Cloud Security Company, has announced the beta release of Panda Global Protection 2011, its comprehensive solution for protecting against new and unknown threats for advanced home computer users. The company has also announced that the ten beta testers suggesting the most helpful improvements will each receive a $200 Amazon.com gift certificate.
Continue reading »

The very stylish drive is here and I’ll start benchmarking soon.

4 May 2010 – London, UK – IT security and data protection firm Sophos has announced that it has reached a definitive agreement to sell a majority interest in the company to Apax Partners, a global private equity group, in a transaction valuing the company at $830 million (USD).  When the transaction is completed, the founders of Sophos will retain a significant minority shareholding.  TA Associates, a minority shareholder in Sophos since 2002, will sell its full interest to Apax in this transaction.

Sophos operates in the IT security market, protecting companies of all sizes against computer and data threats.  Sophos’s flagship endpoint security and data protection product offers anti-virus, anti-spyware, client firewall, host intrusion prevention, network access control, application control, device control, disk encryption and data leak prevention.  The company has over 100 million users in more than 150 countries, with customers including Cisco, Marks and Spencer, Heinz and Harvard University. In its fiscal year ended March 31, 2010 (unaudited), Sophos had billings in excess of $330 million (compared with $273 million in FY 2009), revenue in excess of $260 million (FY2009: $213 million) and generated unlevered free cash flow of approximately $55 million (FY2009: $40 million).

“Over the past three years, Sophos has prospered operationally and financially, growing our revenues at a 27% cumulative annual growth rate and generating strong cash flow,” said Steve Munford CEO, of Sophos. “As the market continues its migration from point solution to tailored, unified security suites, Sophos’s strategy to offer the world’s most resilient, cost effective solutions without any additional complexity remains key. Apax’s financial backing, combined with Sophos’s deep understanding of security and data protection is great news for our customers, prospects and partners. It is also a testament to the efforts of all those who helped bring Sophos to where it is today. ”

“We are delighted to have the opportunity to back Sophos as well as its excellent CEO and management team,” said Salim Nathoo, a partner in the Tech & Telecom team at Apax Partners. “We identified the security software space as an attractive investment area for us given its rapid growth driven by ever increasing malware threats and high barriers to entry.  Sophos is a very strong platform and is gaining market share. Apax’s strong track record and industry specific knowledge in the technology sector makes Sophos a perfect fit, and we look forward to working closely with this high-growth business going forward.”

“We invested in Sophos eight years ago because of its stellar reputation in the security software marketplace,” said Ajit Nedungadi, a Managing Director at TA Associates.  “We have enjoyed working with the founders and management team of Sophos to further build on that foundation, helping them grow the company six-fold since 2002.  Our best wishes to Steve and his team for continued success.”

Technology & telecoms is one of the five sectors on which Apax Partners focuses exclusively. Notable current and historic investments in the sector include Promethean World, a leader in the rapidly growing global market for interactive learning technology; SMART Technologies Inc, a Canadian provider of interactive collaboration products; TDC A/S, the pan-European telecoms business headquartered in Denmark; Weather Investments, an international telecommunications business; and Inmarsat and Intelsat, which are both global satellite operators.

Alongside Apax Partners, current shareholders will retain significant stakes in the business, including Dr Jan Hruska and Dr Peter Lammer, who co-founded the company in 1985.

About Sophos

More than 100 million users in 150 countries rely on Sophos as the best protection against complex threats and data loss. Sophos is committed to providing security and data protection products that are simple to manage, deploy and use and that deliver the industry’s lowest total cost of ownership. Sophos offers award-winning encryption, endpoint security, web, email, and network access control solutions backed by SophosLabs – a global network of threat intelligence centers. With more than two decades of experience, Sophos is regarded as a leader in security and data protection by top analyst firms and has received many industry awards.

Sophos is headquartered in Boston, US and Oxford, UK. More information is available at www.sophos.com.

About Apax Partners

Apax Partners is one of the world’s leading private equity investment groups. It operates across the United States, Europe and Asia and has more than 30 years of investing experience. Funds under the advice and management of Apax Partners globally total approximately $40 billion.

These Funds provide long-term equity financing to build and strengthen world-class companies. Apax Partners Funds invest in companies across its global sectors of Retail & Consumer, Tech & Telecom, Media, Healthcare and Financial & Business Services. For more information, visit: www.apax.com

Today I began testing Faronics Anti-Executable. I’m very early in the test process. I’ve basically only built the environment on a bunch of Windows XP Pro SP3 and Windows Server 2003 virtual machines and installed the app.

Now comes the fun part. Playing around until I break something.